About Us

About Us

Meet Sherry

Hi, I'm Sherry Berkley founder, CEO and grandma! I started this business 10 years ago after an allergic reaction to laundry detergent landed me in the hospital. But I am getting ahead of myself... I started my career many years ago in fashion merchandising in New York City back when there were very few women in the business, and after having my second child and trying to balance work, a 2 hour commute and the growing needs of my children, I walked away from the corporate world and became a full-time mom. I took (and still take) mothering very seriously. I still say it's the hardest job there is! Once my kids were in full-time school, I became very involved both in their schools and in many charity organizations, mostly ones focusing on helping women and children.
 
I always had, you could say, a more holistic approach to things, medicine, food and my household, opting for organic and natural foods when possible, but being a bit of a clean freak I had never felt that the so called "natural cleaning products" available on the market were getting the job done cleaning wise, and so I often opted for industry leading cleaners to do the heavy lifting around my house. Then one day, literally out of nowhere, I broke out in hives which were so awful I ended up in the emergency room. Thinking I just had a bad virus, I was shocked to discover after multiple tests that it was actually my laundry detergent that was making me sick.
 
Around the same time a close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and one of the things her doctor told her was to be very careful with her cleaning products as many of them contained hormone disrupting chemicals. My mission became clear and with my kids now grown it was time to return to the business world. I sought out the help of chemists, and tested and re-formulated until i got it right. With little knowledge of the grocery or consumer goods market I had to rely on my common sense and honestly learn as I went along. I made the decision to partner with the EPA because it felt like there was so much conflicting information about what being "green" or "non-toxic" meant and since the EPA holds itself to the highest standards in the industry, that felt fitting for Berkley Green. Doing things the right way, regardless of profit was maybe not the recipe for a start up company but it was the only way for me because I couldn't put my name on a product that I didn't believe in. Fast forward a few years, we have partnered with some of the top grocers in the country to create EPA certified private label cleaning products and are now expanding our branded Berkley Green and Berkley Green Baby lines and e-commerce presence so that everyone can shop our products conveniently online. When i'm not testing our new fragrances or researching the latest information on toxic cleaning you can find me crafting with my grandchildren-This grandma is pretty comfortable making messes these days knowing I have the safest products available to clean them up.

Meet Allie

Hi i'm Allie, mom of three and director of strategic partnerships, brand marketing and product development at Berkley Green. I joined the company part time after leaving the legal profession when my first child was born 6 years ago. My mom had warned me that motherhood was challenging but honestly, I don't think anything could have prepared me for it, certainly not law school! All of the sudden you have this huge responsibility and you want to do everything right for your child, only feed them the healthiest food and give them the safest and healthiest environment to grow up in. The reality is, especially for me living in New York City, there was never going to be such a thing as perfect! I was going to give my kids non-organic food sometimes and not every toy they put in their mouth would be wooden or natural rubber. But the one thing I knew I could control, thanks to my mom, was my cleaning products and that honestly made me feel better. I knew I was doing at least one thing right--it felt like one less thing to worry about. So all of the sudden, I felt more invested in this mission to bring a healthier safer home to the masses, further develop the product line to include a wider range of more targeted household cleaners (my kids were licking the floors--"mom, we need a floor cleaner" my kids were licking the windows "mom we need a glass cleaner"). I also felt like there needed to be a dedicated suite of baby products, all fragrance free and developed with baby stains in mind-and so Berkley Green Baby was born. Two more kids later i'm more committed than ever to the mission of giving every mom one less thing to worry out.


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